COPE in cop union's good book

By Mike Howell-Staff writer

The president of the Vancouver Police Union is praising the COPE-dominated council for its commitment to policing over the last three years.

Council's decision earlier this year to hire 130 police officers over the next three years is a welcome step, considering previous councils have not met the demands of the department, said Tom Stamatakis.

"I don't want to take a run at this council or [Mayor] Larry Campbell-whether I like them or not-because they have actually made a significant commitment to policing and public safety in this community," he said. "So you have to give them credit for that."

But Stamatakis said he hopes the city's new mayor and council that will be elected Nov. 19 will continue to hire more police and focus more on treatment for drug addicts and educating people about the dangers of drug abuse.

"Harm reduction, safe injection sites are only one part of it," he said.

With an election campaign heating up, Stamatakis said he has received calls from would-be candidates wanting to get up to speed on policing and public safety.

He noted it's common to hear from candidates during most election campaigns, adding that improving public safety is often at the top of most politicians' priority lists.

In fact former deputy premier Christy Clark, who confirmed her bid yesterday to seek the mayor's seat under the NPA banner, listed public safety as her top priority.

Clark said she supports the Four Pillars drug strategy, but added that it's still a work in progress. She, like Stamatakis, pointed out that treatment, enforcement and prevention need strengthening.

"Small crimes become larger crimes when they are tolerated," Clark said in a release. "It's time to step up enforcement and demand that the revolving door of justice stop. And we need to make sure that when an addict seeks treatment, that treatment is there."

Stamatakis wouldn't name the candidates who have called him, but said he hasn't heard from Clark, Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green or Clark's competitor Sam Sullivan.

"That's the beautiful thing about politics," he said. "Every one of them, whether it's at the municipal, provincial or federal level, they all run on that platform of public safety and crime prevention and all those issues. The million dollar question is, 'What do they do after they get elected?'"

Campbell told the Courier the current council's commitment to policing is in contrast to past NPA councils, which laid off officers.

"But as long as we have illness called drug abuse going on, it doesn't matter how many officers you have because these people are pushed to do these drugs," the mayor said.

Before he leaves office in early December, Campbell plans to chair another meeting with the Four Pillars coalition to focus on treatment and housing for addicts.

"You can't get healthy if you don't have a roof over your head. A shelter is not good enough. Once you're safe, then you can start thinking about your life choices."

published on 09/14/2005